Parrikar, who was addressing students at a Bharatiya Janata Party convention in the city on Friday, also said that local police officers in Goa cannot be trusted to investigate the scandal because they are afraid to take on the mining mafia.

"The department is busy data crunching for the court," Parrikar said, when a student asked him why the BJP-led coalition government had been unable to arrest those responsible for the illegal mining scam in Goa.

Parrikar, who is being accused by the media as well as the Opposition of trying to shield mining barons and politicians, further blamed the Centre for not providing the state with good Indian Police Service (IPS) officers.

The Chief Minister also hinted that the first arrest in the mining scandal could happen in a couple of months. A judicial commission, which has unearthed the scandal in Goa, has accused a bureaucrat-politician-mining magnates nexus for it.

Mining has been banned in Goa by the Supreme Court of India, which is currently hearing a petition seeking a probe into the scandal.